CONTENDER - UK V USA:

The USA team arrived in Britain 2 weeks before the show. They moved into a Newcastle hotel where on the second week the UK team joined
them.
The first night at the hotel saw the two teams meet at a dinner laid on by the producers of the contender, so they could film the tension between the fighters. (This was the fighters first chance to see there opponents in the flesh. As you can imagine pulses were running high).

During the week the Uk team had a chance to get to know each other, as most had never met before. They seemed to bond together well as a team in such a short space of time.
The uk team - Ross Minter, Paul Smith, Robin Reid, Nigel Wright, Collin McNeil, Paul Buchanan, Anthony Small and Martin Concepcion.

"The week in Newcastle was quite strange. Usually you don't see your opponent until the day before the fight at the weigh in. Here you were
having dinner and socializing with your foe!!!.
One afternoon I came out of my hotel room and bumped into Freddie Curiel (my opponent) coming out of the room next door. We laughed and shook hands but it did feel strange.
It was also weird being part of a team. Usually boxing is a very lonely sport. I normally train, drive home, relax, prepare and eat my food then go for a run in the evening with just my own company. In Newcastle you had the other fighters to train, eat, relax and get prepared with".

The week went by with no unscheduled fights taking place and no real needle between the two teams, though a fair distance was kept from each other where possible.
At the press conference a bit of fighting talk came boiling out as Fight Night was near and the Sugar Ray Leaonard cup was in sight. All cooled down again quite quickly and thoughts were turned to training and loosing those last few pounds for the weigh in the following day.

At the weigh in all 16 fighters made their weight, then went off to re-fill with fluids and load up on carbohydrates to build up their energy stores for the following night.
Ross came to the scales wearing a pair of embroidered boxer shorts with Ross The Boss across the front. He weighed in 10st 7lb exactly, while Freddie weighed in at 10st 8.5lb. There was a bit of confusion as Ross' team thought that the fight was made at the welterweight championship limit of 10st 7lb. It was actually made at 10st 9lb so both fighters were ok.

The next night saw the boxers arriving at the MetroRadio Arena in Newcastle where the action was to take place.
Soon the Arena was filled by the fighters' supporters and avid boxing fans waiting patiently for the boxing to begin. Approximately 8,000 seats were sold and the atmosphere was intense.

"I was told that I was on 4th, which would be around 9.30pm, so I had plenty of time to prepare myself, as the first fight was on at 7pm. I walked my team mate, Paul Smith out for his fight and got a great buzz when the crowd cheered. Every contest was like a top of the bill fight and the Newcastle crowd were brill. I found it a bit off putting having the cameras constantly filming in the dressing room, especially as we had a TV showing the fights, and could hear cheering from the USA dressing room next door.
However when Paul stopped his man the USA team went quiet and it was us doing the shouting.!!!!!"

Unfortunately the first two fights were not included in the competition as the American TV only wanted 6 fights. So after being two nil up from two stoppage wins, first by Paul Smith and second by Nigel Wright, the competition came back to 0 - 0 again.
Anthony Small won a very close contest, which put the UK team up 1 - 0.

The cameras were now concentrating on Ross, as it was his turn next.

"Walking out to the roar of the crowd was great. The one unfortunate thing was that each fighter could only have one trainer in their corner. So Peter Swinney had to sit this one out and watch from the crowd (I'm sure I still heard him shouting though!). It's a shame because Johnny and Peter work so well together and I missed the normal relaxed atmosphere and banter in the build up to the fight".

The bell rang for the first of eight rounds and the war began. The first 3 rounds started fast with both men throwing quality shots.

Curiel shading the 1st and Ross the 2nd and 3rd. The supporters in the Arena were warming up as the pace rose in the 4th. Ross caught Curiel with a great combo which threw the American back to the ropes, Ross took advantage of this and opened up a barrage of fast power punches.
Curiel was rocked several times and it looked like the ref would step in, but somehow he survived. The crowd were on their feet and Ross gave them a wave of recognition as he walked back to his corner.

" In the fourth round I caught Freddie and saw his legs go. I jumped on him instantly and connected with alot of hard shots. I don't think many fighters could have taken the punishment that I was dishing out. All credit to him, he took the shots and came back. While throwing these hard shots - (alot of which hit Freddie on the top of his head) I injured my right hand. Throwing it became more painful and it was hurting me more than it was hurting him. Then, if that's not enough, in the 5th he caught me with a body shot and I felt my rib crack, I had a bit of trouble getting my breath but the adrenalin soon kicked in and I tried to forget about it."

The 4th round could have been given 10-8 to Ross and the 5th was much the same story, though Curiel got on his back foot and ran, staying out of trouble and taking a breather. Though keeping at a distance in this round, Curiel did land a great body shot which made Minter visibly wince.
The pace did not slow, though Ross seemed to be throwing less power shots in the final three rounds. The Newcastle crowd, still on there feet in the final stages of the fight, were sensing another UK win, but out of the blue Curiel delivered a punch perfect right which floored Minter with only 30 seconds of the 8th and last round to go. Minter got straight up but his legs gave way beneath him and the fight was stopped.

"In the last few rounds of the fight, I was dropping my left hand to protect my rib and Freddie's corner probably picked up on it. I walked in to a very good right hand while I was attacking him on the ropes. When I hit the floor my head cleared and all I could think about was getting up.
As I did my legs gave way and I tumbled back down. In hindsight I should have taken the 8 count on one knee to clear my head fully, then get up with steady legs and get through the final 20 seconds. You live and learn!!"

Unfortunately the UK contender team lost to the USA team 4 - 2 although had all 8 fights been included, it would have been 4 all.
Ross The Boss Minter vs Furious Freddie Curriel ended up being the best fight of the night.
Ross was 5 rounds ahead coming into the last. Though in boxing it only takes one shot, as Ross has now learned.

The new Contender series has started. It is on ITV 4 at 9pm on a Monday, Friday and Sunday night. The series runs for the next 6 weeks.
Ross' fight is to be shown on Monday the 23rd, Friday the 27th and Sunday the 29th of April.

Ross 'The Boss' Minter is sponsored by